Omaha girl told police she was raped before taking her own life. Rapist says 'I am the victim.'

[Omaha Steve]

Last edited Sat Feb 2, 2019, 09:19 PM - Edit history (2)

By Todd Cooper / World-Herald staff writer Feb 2, 2019 Updated 8 hrs ago

She was a freshman at Omaha North High School and the favorite aunt in a family teeming with nieces and nephews.

Sarah loved to laugh, joke and sing, even if she typically botched the words to virtually every song she heard.

But life wasn’t all braces and bubble gum for the 16-year-old. She had a secret, a dark detail that she had told only her mother, her siblings and an investigator. She had been raped repeatedly, by a family friend, in 2014.

The rapes — and her mother’s initial indifference to them — had taken their toll.

Edit: I didn't know when I posted the story this is apparently behind a paywall. There is a little more of the story in reply #6.

FULL story: https://www.omaha.com/news/plus/omaha-girl-told-police-she-was-raped-before-taking-her/article_d200a7ce-b8a4-5b16-a797-c10ceaccb008.html

[bobbieinok]

1. Seems I have to pay to read article. Have I got that right?

[Omaha Steve]

2. I thought the site offers 6 free reads a month

Am I wrong? Your the first to mention it.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I ran into the pay wall too, Steve. Argh.

[Omaha Steve]

4. Maybe I should just delete it?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. I wouldn't delete it; I'd just say there's a paywall and let people choose.

Can you post more of the story?

That might help.

[Omaha Steve]

6. It is a very long but well written story

A little more: Sarah — not her real name; The World-Herald doesn’t name victims of sexual abuse, unless they want to be — sometimes seemed despondent and attention-starved, cutting herself and talking about suicide. But by last March, nearly four years removed from the abuse, she seemed to be hitting her stride.

In her first year at Omaha North, she did well in her classes and worked in the office, helping the support staff. She had applied for jobs outside of school. And she had mustered the courage to tell her story to investigators. She had watched as prosecutors charged family friend Tyron Stapleton, 34, with sexual assault of a child.

Though she wasn’t looking forward to testifying, she seemed content that he was being held accountable.

She had even written on Facebook: “Don’t let your past intertwine with your future.”

Three days later, she hanged herself in the bedroom where she had been raped.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. Thanks, Steve!

You might put a note in your OP to let folks know there's more to the story in your post here, and give the post #.